Tastes and Preferences

Finally, consumer tastes may affect demand. Consumers may clamor for an item one year and ignore it the next. The clothing industry is particularly vulnerable to quickly changing tastes. How ready was the clothing industry for the abandonment of the polyester bell bottom complemented by a form-fitting butterfly collar shirt? How ready was the industry for the revival of these ridiculous clothes thirty years later?

Why It Matters Today

Every Christmas season, it seems, there is that one must-have item that everybody just needs to have under the tree. Manufacturers just can't make enough, stores run out of inventory, and desperate shoppers trample each other on Black Friday trying to get their hands on the precious, the precious.

Here are the best-selling must-haves of recent holiday shopping seasons: